Another NaruSaku Story
by Bloomination
Summary: Something mysterious is happening in Konoha. Naruto is infected with a fatal disease and it's up to Shikamaru, Sakura and Sai to save him before it's too late.
1. Unwanted Arrival

"NARUTOOO!

"Please, don't die! Don't you _dare_ die on me!" Sakura screamed, running over to an unconscious Naruto.

The pink haired kunoichi was drenched in blood, it was smeared on her face and stained her clothes. The blonde she gripped was only faintly breathing, gashes were strewn across his body and a kunai lodged in his side.

"Please, Naruto, breathe…" Sakura whispered, tears rolled down her cheeks and splashed onto Naruto.

Hands shaking, she hovered them over his chest and attempted to heal Naruto. Minor injuries faded away, but her power was too weak against the deeper wounds.

Sakura's eyes widened, "What? No, oh god," she froze, her hands shook uncontrollably as she stared at the blonde in shock. "Naruto, you can't die, you have too much to live for," Sakura sobbed, "Come on, Kyuubi! Heal yourself! I know you can!"

In Naruto's hand was a headband with the Konoha symbol slashed through the middle. Sakura didn't see it; she was too preoccupied with the dying blonde propped against her knees.

"Don't die," Sakura pleaded, leaning over to start chest compressions, "Please…I-GAAAH"

Suddenly a large shuriken flew through the air, stabbing her in the back. Sakura crumpled on top of Naruto, blood pooling beneath them.

A voice cried out from the darkness. "Sakura! Where are you?"

"Over here, I see her!"

"Sakura?"

"Naruto..."

"Oh my god."

And with that last word, she fell unconscious.

"What?" Tsunade screamed, "How did this happen?"

Konoha's Hokage sat behind the desk in her office, staring in disbelief at Team 7's former leader. He stood in the middle of the room, hands behind his back in a show of respect, something that came unnaturally to the masked man.

"I'm afraid we don't kn-we have pieces." Kakashi stuttered under Tsunade's glare. "Sai and I found them 3 miles out of Konoha. Off the road, middle of the woods. Both unconscious."

"And just where is Sai?" Tsunade interjected.

"He followed them back to the hospital, and I came to you."

Her left hand touched her temple, the other held a pen. "Their conditions?"

"Sakura was found with a shuriken in her back. But it's been removed." Kakashi paused.

"And? Naruto?" Tsunade inquired, the silence was unnerving. She lowered her hand and put the pen down.

Kakashi sighed, turning away from Tsunade, speaking as he walked over to the window in her office. "Naruto has multiple lacerations, several broken bones. Whoever or whatever he was fighting didn't hold back."

Tsunade rose to meet him by the window.

Kakashi spoke again, "It looks as though Sakura attempted healing him, but only minor injuries were healed. As of yet, we can't garner if she stopped or if she was simply too weak at the time for deeper wounds."

He rested his hands on the window sill, looking out the window at nothing in particular, "Nurses were able to remove the kunai from his side, and he is stable. But only just. He's being heavily monitored," he finished.

"What the hell were they up to out there? Alone in the forest?" The Hokage fumed, "A shuriken in her back? A kunai in his chest?" Pushing herself away from the window she paced over to her desk, but turned back, "They almost died today! Where were you? Why were you not keeping better tabs on them?!"

"You know as well as I do I am not in charge of them." Kakashi looked back at Tsunade, his hands dropped from the sill, "You're angry, and I get that. But what we need right now is not wild accusations, but concrete fact. Anbu is assembling teams and are heading out soon."

"I don't understand how this happened…" Tsunade pondered out loud. Shaking the thought from her mind she asked, "are they awake?" Her volume lowered, but her worry was still obvious.

"No." Kakashi stated bluntly. "With the condition they're in the doctors aren't sure when they'll wake up. You will, of course, be notified immediately when they do."

"Forget you, I'm going over there right now to heal them!" Tsunade announced, "Shizune!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune burst into the room, holding Ton-Ton in her arms. Her worried expression indicated she had been listening through the door; even Ton-Ton seemed upset.

"Cancel all my meetings for today; I'm going to the hospital to see Naruto and Sakura."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama." Shizune bowed and retreated from the room.

Tsunade turned back to Kakashi, "What room are they in?"

[hr][/hr]

Tsunade and Kakashi entered room 450 just in time to see the nurse wrap a bandage around Sakura's stomach. Naruto lied in the bed next to her. Both were still unconscious, and both were covered in bandages. Some bloodier than others.

"Oh, good morning, Hokage-sama. I'm almost done here and then you may take over." The nurse spoke quietly. She quickly finished wrapping Sakura, bowed to the visitors and left.

"Well, Kakashi, you weren't kidding..." Tsunade said, slowly looking over the two patients, "I'd better get started."

Tsunade put her hands over Naruto's wounds and started to heal him, but it healed only the few bruises and scratches that were left after Sakura had tried.

"What? It's not working!" Tsunade said confused.

"No, really?" Kakashi said sarcastically.

"This is no time for jokes, Kakashi! Why isn't it working?" Tsunade yelled.

"Maybe whoever cut him, sliced so deep that even you trying to heal him won't work," Kakashi tried.

The Hokage scoffed.

"Just a thought. Obviously this person really wanted Naruto dead," Kakashi spoke grimly, "But who would hate Naruto enough to really want to kill him?"

"I can think of a cou-"

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama…is th-that…you?" A voice spoke softly behind them, cutting off Tsunade's sentence.

"Sakura, you've woken up!" Tsunade grinned. Finally something was turning in her favor.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei, you're there too?" Sakura gasped and fell back over onto her side.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Tsunade questioned, and in a flash Kakashi was there right next to her helping her into a more comfortable position.

"Sakura, do you remember what brought you here?" Kakashi asked. "We found you and Naruto in the forest. Do you remember that?"

Sakura tried to sit up but Kakashi wouldn't allow it.

"You're still very weak, Sakura." She finally remembered the terrifying events that just passed.

"Naruto…he was," Sakura couldn't finish, "He was attacked by…"

"Who, Sakura? Who was he attacked by?" Tsunade urged, trying to get her to speak.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura breathed, and with that final breath she fell back to unconsciousness.


	2. Dying Flame

"Wha-what the-where am I?" Naruto woke up, and rose from the floor.

"You're up. Finally." A demonic voice started softly, just loud enough to hear, but the echo exemplified the sound.

"Who was that?" Naruto cried out. Swinging around to find the source of the sound. But all he saw nothing, the entire area was shrouded. He could feel that it was vast but somehow he felt compressed and trapped within its invisible walls.

"Kit..." The voice spoke again, louder than before and definitely annoyed.

"Where are you?" Naruto shouted, "Keep away! I'm...the most powerful shinobi in the land! Y-you're no match for my jutsu," he spun around again, "So stay away!"

"Quiet!" The sound enveloped the blonde. It came from all angles and left his ears ringing.

Slowly a figure finally came out of the shadows. It came to shape a fox, which just happened to have nine tails. "You see me now? So shut up and let me explain."

"Kyuubi?" Naruto gasped and took a step back, "Why aren't you in your cage? How is this possible?"

"You're in your mind, Kit. And you might be stuck here a while."

"My...mind? No. I can't be in my mind. Am I hallucinating? I mean-I had that new ramen yesterday and it did have mushro-"

"I said to be quiet!"

Naruto stopped talking, but only briefly, "So does this mean I'm dead?"

The fox sighed, "You're only unconscious right now, and I have to babysit you until you wake up. I don't really want to, but it's not really my choice."

Naruto stared incredulously at the demon speaking to him.

"Well, come over here and have a look at this," the demon gestured with one of his many tails to a spot where a single flame floated. "This is your flame, everyone has one."

Naruto stepped closer to the flame, careful not to get too close to the fox. The flame was weak and sputtered at random intervals.

"Even you can tell... your flame is dying." He continued in a grim tone, "Well, that's pretty much it. Questions? No? Good."

"Wait, w-what do I do?" Naruto wailed.

"Well, all we can do, Kit, is wait. Either you wake up or you die," the fox said completely calm.

"Don't I have a choice in the matter?" Naruto asked.

"No, not really. Like I said, all we can do is just sit down and wait."

Naruto paced around his flame before eventually sitting down next to the giant fox, hoping to be saved.

Tsunade stormed into her office, almost breaking the door. Ton-Ton, who was sleeping peacefully on her chair, was startled, fell onto the floor and ran out of the room. Kakashi stepped over the confused pig and followed the Hokage, who now stood behind her desk.

"What's our next move?" Kakashi asked.

"We can't underestimate Sasuke. I'm concerned that even if we run blood tests the results won't be useful, "Tsunade sighed, "There's a million things that could be wrong with him, and we may not have enough time!"

"We can at least try," Shizune attempted as she entered the office, catching Ton-Ton who had jumped into her arms, "Test for an wide array of ailments, even ruling out every single one gets us that much closer to finding out what is wrong with him."

"Shizune's right, it's worth a shot." Kakashi said.

Tsunade nodded and Shizune rushed out of the room.

"Now that that's done," Tsunade shuffled papers aimlessly on her desk, "Go and notify Yamato, and find out where the hell Sai is. He wasn't at the hospital, and I want to speak with him."

"Tsunade-sama." Kakashi bowed slightly and in a puff of smoke he was gone.

"Am I able to see anything?" Naruto whined, "Or do I just sit here in the dark until I wake up?"

The fox looked up, surprised by the broken silence, "I almost forgot," he gestured over towards a faint light, "There you go."

"What the-" Naruto walked up to the light, "I've been pacing around this area for hours how did I not see this?"

"You have to know what you're looking for, Kit."

Floating in front of Naruto was a screen that showed himself and his immediate surroundings.

"This is how I know what's going on," the demon explained, "Here's you and everything around you. Don't you just look awful."

Naruto ignored the insult and noticed Sakura. The kunoichi was wrapped up and unconscious in the bed next to his own.

"She's so fragile compared to her usual self..." He suddenly became very quiet. "Sakura-chan…I'm so sorry…" he reached out to the screen but his hand went right through. Smoke swirled around the area and as he pulled away the smoke came to shape the picture as if nothing happened.

"Kit don't beat yourself up, it was her choice to foll-"

"But I gave her the choice!" Naruto shot back the demon within him, "If I hadn't ran out because of Sasuke none of this would have happened, Sakura wouldn't be in the hospital and I wouldn't be dead!"

"Now hold up there," the nine-tails suddenly became very big, "You're not dead yet and I'm making sure you won't be dead! Even if it means having to babysit you for a month. Listen to me. You are not dying on me!"

"O-okay…"

"Now sit there and watch or I'm turning this off," pointing at the fog with one of his tails.

"Alright…" Naruto gave up. Fighting was getting him nowhere.

Suddenly the fox was very alert, "Kit, what's that in the window next to you?"

Naruto gasped, "He's back…Sasuke…"


	3. Awakening

It has been two days since Naruto and Sakura were attacked and the Anbu were still at work tracing the footsteps of Naruto and Sakura. They searched the trail up and down looking for clues but none could be found. All that was left of the events from yesterday was a pool of blood and broken branches. The Anbu quickly spread out, in every direction, searching for anything that could lead them closer to a suspect, as the fact that it was Sasuke was kept secret.

The sun was setting and the Anbu finished searching and left; no clues found. The branches parted creating a pathway for a dark figure to walk through. The mysterious figure knelt down and examined the pool of blood. The leaves rustled from behind and a lantern lit the way as Sai stepped out into the light.

"Shikamaru? What are you doing here so late?" He asked, "Aren't you usually asleep by now?"

"The question is: what are _you_ doing here so late?" Shikamaru challenged.

"I'm searching for clues. Didn't want to get in the way when the Anbu was searching."

"Doesn't that seem a little out of character, Sai?"

"I'm afraid not, what are you doing here?" Sai said quickly.

"I'm searching, same as you, but I do my best work alone." Shikamaru answered. "I'm afraid the Anbu were right, I can't find anything." He turned to leave just as he saw something shine in the light of the lantern beneath the foliage. "Unless…what is that?" Shikamaru paused.

Sai tried to stop Shikamaru, "I'm sure it's nothing, we should go back. It's getting really late."

"Sai, stop it. I'm trying to figure out what happened to Naruto, aren't you his teammate? Why are you stopping me?" Shikamaru looked Sai straight in the eye but something was different, "Sai?"

Ignoring Shikamaru's question Sai turned away and changed the subject, "I'm going back to town, it's getting really late." He left abruptly and the light dimmed as he got farther away.

"That was odd." Shikamaru pondered. Thinking about his eyes, was it just him or did Sai's eyes change color? The fact that he was out here alone was enough for Shikamaru to start wondering. "Then again, Sai's always been weird."

He knelt down and reached out into the plants and felt something metallic. "What the...?" He grabbed a Konoha headband with a slash through the symbol. "Why is there...?" Shikamaru got up and left for Konoha; deep in thought.

He reached town and passed Ichiraku Ramen and saw Sai once again, sitting alone eating his ramen.

"Sai? I thought you were going to bed?" Shikamaru was now confused, something that rarely happened to him.

"Shikamaru? What are you talking about? I've just been sitting here for about a couple hours. It's not the same without Naruto... Do you think I could feed him ramen when he's asleep?" Sai asked.

Now that, Shikamaru thought, sounds more like Sai, but what was he-it was all clear now. "Troublesome." Shikamaru commented.

Shikamaru sprinted back to where Naruto was supposed to be killed. Clutching the headband as he ran onto the trail; noticing the blown-out lantern on the ground. He reached where the pool of blood was, but it was no longer there. The entire area was spotless, if you would have just walked up you would never have known that a fight happened here.

"I'm too late." Shikamaru yelled, spooking the birds in the trees. He looked down at his hand clutching the headband. "Sasuke..."

Naruto sat there on the ground, or whatever it was in his mind, "So am I ever going to wake up?" Huddling next to his flame, trying to keep warm; it was unfortunately cold in his head.

"It all depends," the fox answered, "I'm sure everyone's worried about you, Kit," burying his head in his nine tails, trying to sleep.

He turned to face the screen, "Look, there's Sai. Ooh…he has ramen." Naruto whimpered, "At least I have one visitor."

Naruto walked up to the floating screen and sat down right in front of it. Watching Sai as if he'd never seen a human before.

"Hi, Naruto..." Sai whispered to Naruto's body, "I just saw Shikamaru, I think he's going crazy." Sai chuckled, in a way that wasn't very happy at all. "It's just not fun at Ichiraku Ramen anymore." He paused, "Shikamaru was saying I was somewhere I wasn't. I have no idea what he's talking about. All I've done today is talk to Tsunade-sama and eat ramen. Ooh, I brought you some, I wonder if I can feed you-" Sai raised the bowl up to Naruto's mouth.

Suddenly the door burst open and Shikamaru stormed in. He grabbed Sai by the neck and looked as if he was about to kill him; looking straight in his eyes.

"Wah!" Sai dropped the ramen he was holding and looked completely confused as he cried out, "I'm sorry I took you're Onigiri! I was hungry and didn't have any money!"

Shikamaru finally released him, "Sasuke was in the forest. He disguised himself as you but his eyes were different."

Sai stepped back, "As me? Why would he want to be me?"

"To clean up the blood, he must have heard me coming and turned into you, he left his headband." Shikamaru showed Sai the headband that had a slash through the symbol.

"Did they know it was Sasuke?" asked Sai, "Why didn't they tell us?"

"They had to have known before we did." Shikamaru was disgusted, "To keep us _safe_, huh?"

Naruto jumped up. "He's back to finish the job!"

"Slow down, Kit," the fox said, lifting his head out from underneath his tails. "Sasuke was after you for what reason?"

Naruto was annoyed, "I thought you knew everything?"

"Kit, you're so boring sometimes I fall asleep."

Naruto sighed, "Well, I don't know why, I was just walking around and I saw him and so I chased after him." Naruto explained, "I can't exactly remember what happened after that…" Naruto turned back to the screen.

Sai closed the door and stepped closer to Shikamaru, "What does Sasuke want with Naruto, why would he come back?"

Shikamaru paced the room, "Those two have had a lot of history, before you ever came here. My question is why would he lure th-"

Sakura opened her eyes and noticed Shikamaru and Sai standing there, "Shikamaru, Sai? How long have I been out?"

Shikamaru stopped talking and turned to Sakura, "Just two days, can you sit up?" He asked quickly, moving closer to pour her a glass of water.

"Yes," Sakura strained but slowly she lifted herself up.

"Are you alright? I brought you some ramen, but Shikamaru made me spill it…." Sai said, glancing over to the bowl on the floor atop all the liquid and noodles. "Maybe I can save just the noodles on the top?" Sai began to kneel down.

"That's alright Sai." Sakura stopped him, "I'm fine."

Naruto cheered up, "Sakura-chan's okay!" Naruto felt better, he had not caused her irreversible harm.

"Is Naruto alright?" Sakura asked.

"See for yourself." Shikamaru looked up from the pitcher and nodded toward Naruto's body.

"Naruto…" Sakura had yet to see him, "Is he okay?"

"Yes! Sakura-chan I'm okay! I just have to wake up," Naruto shouted, "Kyuubi! Maybe if I shout loud enough she'll hear?"

The fox only rolled his eyes and mumbled something into his tails.

"He hasn't woken up yet, I'm sorry. And Sasuke cleaned up all evidence of a fight so getting any clues is not a possibility anymore." Shikamaru explained, handing her the water.

Sai took out some paper, wrote a note and made it into a bird. "I'll notify Hokage-sama that you're awake." Sai released the bird and turned back to Sakura.

Ton-Ton was sleeping peacefully on the floor next to the desk in Tsunade's office as she was filing paperwork. Sai's bird flew down onto the desk, startling Ton-Ton, and turned back into the note; Tsunade picked it up and read it carefully.

"Shizune," Tsunade screeched, "I'm going to visit Sakura; she just woke up."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Shizune bowed and picked up Ton-Ton who was now hungry.


	4. Concentrate

Tsunade stepped into room 450 to see Sakura sitting up, talking to Shikamaru and Sai. Tsunade sat down in the chair facing the three.

"I've received your note, Sai. How much do you know?" Tsunade calmly asked.

Shikamaru spoke first, "Sasuke cleaned up any evidence that was left in the forest." He paused, "All that was left was his headband."

"Loads of good that will do..." Sai commented.

"I see. Sa-" Tsunade started.

"What else are you hiding? You knew it was Sasuke and didn't tell us, didn't you?" Shikamaru interrupted, "Did you think we were safer? Being ignorant? Is that it?"

"Shikamaru! This is wildly out of character, and incredibly out of place. I'm not here to talk about that, I am here for Sakura. If you're here for something else, then schedule a meeting!" Tsunade turned back to Sakura, "Now, do you feel any better?"

"Oh. Yes, I'm sure I can stand now. How long do I have to stay in the hospital?" Sakura asked.

"I think you should remain here for a few more days. You're still far too weak and I don't want you to hurt yourself. You realize that you're still all wrapped up for a reason." Tsunade replied. "Besides, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," she got straight to the point, "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"Well, I didn't exactly _see _what happened." Sakura pointed out. "But I do remember..." she closed her eyes in thought, "Naruto was running down the street and... he wasn't stopping for anything. I think I tried to ask him what happened but he just kept running. He was chasing someone I've never seen in the village before. I didn't get a good look at him though." Sakura sat there and thought for a minute before starting again. "I wanted to know what he was doing and then I saw him running out of town through the gates so I knew something was wrong. And I wasn't about to let him do something stupid."

"I'm so sorry Sakura-chan. you weren't supposed to follow. I never-I-" Naruto whispered plaintively.

"Grow a pair, Kit. You sound pathetic," the nine-tailed demon noted, but Naruto wasn't listening.

"I followed him for a while after that and then I heard some yelling. But I couldn't make out what they were saying, so I looked through the trees and I saw Sasuke and Naruto fighting and Naruto looked really beat up." Sakura paused, "I...I honestly can't remember anything else." Sakura looked down, "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama. I wish I could help more."

"That's quite alright, Sakura. Get some rest." Tsunade stood up and moved to Shikamaru and Sai, "What I still don't understand is why the cuts on Naruto won't heal."

"May I see them?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course," Tsunade gestured toward Naruto's body. "Be careful not to get anything on you."

Shikamaru walked to Naruto and began to unravel the bandages around his stomach, near where the kunai stabbed him.

"I'm going to go get a mop." Sai turned to the door, careful to not to step on the spilt ramen.

Shikamaru ignored the comment and continued to unravel the bandages. He slowly placed them aside and looked at the wound. Tsunade flinched and Shikamaru turned away.

The wounds on Naruto were green and a strange bubbling liquid was secreting out of the cut, hissing as it spilled onto the floor. It was something that Tsunade had never come across before.

"It's absolutely disgusting…what is it?" Tsunade walked away from Sakura to get a closer look.

"Was it like this yesterday?" Shikamaru asked. He started to turn to face Naruto but decided against it as the stench was unbearable.

Tsunade shook her head, "Not at all...just a deep cut."

Sakura got out of the bed and gasped, "Oh...Naruto. What happened to you?"

"It's disintegrating the stitches..." Tsunade ducked her head into the hallway and called for a nurse.

"Poison." Shikamaru answered quietly. "Something new..."

Sakura turned away from Naruto crinkling her nose, "New? What makes you say that?"

"I think he's right. I've never come across this in all my years of training," agreed Tsunade, who had entered back into the room, and was forcing Sakura back into bed.

"Nor have I in any readings. Why would he come back to Konoha to use it on Naruto? Why wouldn't he use it against one of his other enemies?" Shikamaru stopped.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura sat on her bed and spoke softly, "He still wants Naruto dead, after all these years?"

The strange liquid bubbled up from Naruto's wounds and spilled again onto the floor.

"Where is that nurse?" Tsunade angrily left the room again, "You, stop what you're doing! Get Shizune over here now, tell her it's important. And someone bring bandages!"

Sai ducked behind Tsunade and walked into the room holding a mop. He eyes landed on Naruto and the green liquid, "I'm going to need a bigger mop." He turned and left the room.

"Damn. I'm inside that?"

Naruto turned to the fox, "That's the least of _my_ worries!" Naruto looked at the picture, "I'm spewing green pus everywhere and I don't have any control over it!"

The fox thought for a minute and turned to face Naruto, "If Shikamaru is correct, why would Sasuke want you dead so badly?"

"Is it because I'm trying to bring him back to Konoha?" Naruto thought for a second, "Or does he want to harness you, just as the Akatsuki does?"

"That may be the reason," the nine-tails nodded gravely, "Could you imagine what he would do if he got a hold of me?"

"Do I want to? The mere thought is terrifying enough. We can't allow Sasuke to get you!" Naruto jumped up, "I have to wake up!"

"And how, exactly," the fox wondered, "Do you plan on doing that?"

"That...is a good question." Naruto sat back down, "This has never happened before."

The fox placed his head in his tails yet again, "Concentrate." He yawned and fell asleep.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Gee, thanks a lot." Dripping with sarcasm he stretched himself out on the ground and drifted off to sleep.


	5. Trapped

"Ugh, I feel like I've been asleep for years... how can I still be so restless?" Naruto opened his eyes and looked around.

_Oh, right. Still stuck in my mind. Or, wherever I am. _

"Kit, you up? You sleep like a rock." The fox glared at him, "you know I've been trying to get you up for hours."

"Kyuubi-"

"It's Kurama, kit."

"Whatev-you, just- ugh. I'm not that hard to wake up."

"I never said I was trying particularly hard."

"Then why did y-ahh" Naruto hissed as he grabbed his side.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Kit."

Biting back passive-aggressive comments, Naruto nodded to his side. "There, i-it feels like… I'm-ugh- burning! Ahh…why do I still feel pain? That can't be possible."

"Look, you're not dead," Kurama corrected, "and you're not impervious to pain."

The blonde gritted his teeth and lifted up his shirt and jacket to see where the pain was coming from. But instead of finding a bruise he found a bloody bandage.

"What the-? I didn't wrap this myself! Kyu-Kurama." Catching his words, "Is this your idea of waking me up? Are you touching me in my sleep?!"

Kurama groaned.

"Oh, this is it. Death by molestation by a giant fox...giant." Struggling for words, "I can picture it now! Oh, the images!"

The giant fox giant turned to face the floating screen, "It's the same as out there."

Dumbfounded, Naruto gripped his side, gritted his teeth and stumbled over to where Kurama was sitting. Moving away from his dying flame.

"Why?" Naruto stared at his actual self, "I've been-ugh, fine. I'm not even out there. I-I'm in my mind! Why is this-ack, bandage just now showing up?"

"Poison must be getting deeper," breathed a somber Kurama.

"I'm not even safe in my mind?" Naruto complained, "This isn't-ooh, fair, and I'm getting...woozy..."

Naruto dropped to the ground.

"Don't faint, Kit-"

"What if I do?!" Naruto yelled, "What then, Kurama? So I can wake up in my sub-subconscious?" The blonde glared at the fox.

The fox was at a loss for words.

"No!" Naruto shook his head, "no, I'm staying awake. I...I don't know how I'm getting out of this, but I will."

And there they sat.

"Let me out! I'm fine, I can move!" Sakura glared at the nurse tending to her.

"Miss, we simply wish to monitor you for a few more days." The nurse gently held her down, "Please, you'll rip your stitches."

"I don't need to be monitored. I'm fine." Sakura pleaded, gesturing to her bandages. "You don't even have to worry, or take my bandages off. Let me go."

"I'm sorry. But the doctor advised that you stay for a few more days." The nurse shook her head, "You're not fully healed yet, and we simply cannot discharge you."

"Ugh!" Sakura slammed back down onto her hospital bed.

Shiho slid her chair to the counter opposite her desk, adjusted her glasses and worked intently to decode another encrypted message.

"Welcome. How may I help you?" she could hear the woman at the front desk ask the visitor.

"Yes, hello. I'm looking for Shiho?" A familiar voice questioned.

Shiho shot out of her seat, knocking the papers in front of her onto the floor. "Shi-Shikamaru-kun? I-uh, hi! Hello. Umm, hi!" Shiho stuttered, "Hello." She rushed out from the back room and up to the front desk, smoothing her forever frizzed hair. "Hi, Shikamaru-kun," she bit her lip to keep her from talking.

Shikamaru blinked, "I need your help."

"Sure, sure! O-of course. Yes. Whatever you want. I'll do anything you want." Shiho stumbled over her words. "I mean, um," she cleared her throat. "What do you need, Shikamaru-kun?" Shiho tried to rest her hand on the table beside her but missed, luckily she caught herself before faceplanting.

Shikamaru looked down at the woman sitting at the front desk, to the bag he was holding, and back at Shiho.

"Oh, of course. Here, follow me." Shiho led him away from the receptionist and back to her desk, closing the door. "Yes?" she inquired, picking up the papers off the floor and tidying her workspace.

"I don't know if you've heard, but Naruto is in the hospital," Shikamaru explained, keeping his voice low.

"I've heard, yes. Is he well?"

"That's why I'm here." Shikamaru put the bag on Shiho's desk. "He's not. Getting better that is. In fact, he's worsening day by day. It's poison, it has to be."

"Have you identified it? Looked for an antidote?" Shiho stopped shuffling papers and looked up into Shikamaru's dark brown eyes which were fixed on the pack.

"That's where you come in." Shikamaru opened the pack, reached in and pulled out two vials, one green and one red.

"Is that-?"

"Yeah, I may or not have taken some samples when the nurse was tending to some emergency in the hallway..." Shikamaru shrugged.

"One is his blood," he held up the red vial, "The other is the liquid coming off his wound," Shikamaru brought the green vial to her attention.

"But, it's green..." Shiho again adjusted her glasses and took hold of the vial.

"Poison." Shikamaru looked up from the vial to Shiho, "Please, I just need these to be analyzed. And an antidote synthesized, if you can. Do your science magic?"

"Shikamaru-kun...ahh, I'm sorry, but I work specifically with Cryptanalysis. Not blood work." Shiho's heart sunk as she turned him down, "This should be taken to the toxicology department."

"Ehh, Toxicologists were a bunch of idiots. Too troublesome." He shrugged, "Look, you're in the same building. Can't you pull some strings? Gain access to some equipment?"

Shiho sighed, she simply couldn't say no. Yet, unable to respond she only nodded. Finally, she caught her breath, "Y-yes. I'll see what I can do. Heh, I've always wanted to be a toxicologist."

Shikamaru smiled.

"You sly dog," Chouji burst out laughing, "You know she's got the hots for you!"

Team 10 sat in Chouji's favorite restaurant, surrounding the grill. Not surprisingly Chouji was hording the food.

Ino chuckled, "You're so cruel Shika," he cringed at his nickname, "Poor girl, you're sooo gonna get her hopes up!"

"Fighting dirty, I see. Classy." Chouji smiled, gnawing on his barbecue pork. His words seeming to have more syllables than they should. "And Temari too! Starting a harem are ya?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and brought his hands to his chin, his elbows to the table and intertwined his fingers, "Troublesome women."

"What did you say?" Ino asked, deepening her voice, "'Oh, honeybunch, pleeeease do this one little teensy weensy thing for me~!'"

"I may have asked her to do her..." Shikamaru sighed, "Science...magic."

Chouji and Ino burst out laughing.

"That. Was. Horrible!" Kiba shouted, bursting into the restaurant with his massive dog, his hair and shirt was covered in a liquid substance that was most decidedly not water. Chouji switched sides, allowing him to sit down, opposite Shikamaru.

Ino turned to him, "What happened to you? Oh ew, and _what_ is in your hair?"

"He was the distraction," Shikamaru explained to his confused team, "In the hallway?"

"Yeah! And my visitation was revoked until further notice!" Kiba grabbed Chouji's pork.

"Oi!" Chouji protested.

"You're lucky I'm friends with Naruto. Those nurses do not take kindly to messing with patient's fluids," Kiba grumbled, taking the strip of pork from Chouji's chopsticks and tossing it at Akamaru.

"Hey, quit it," Chouji raised his chopsticks up to his chest like swords, "I will stab you."

"Is that what's on you? Kiba, you smell like a dumpster," Ino laughed, "But I'm sure Tsunade-sama can fix that."

"Yeah, yeah…" Kiba spoke, beckoning for a waitress.

"End justifies the means," Shikamaru spoke quietly now, "And if it gets Naruto better..."

Suddenly the table wasn't as lively anymore.

**A/N**

**Ugh, I knooow! It's been an eternity since I've posted.**

**So to apologize to anyone who has been waiting, here's a funny chapter. I can't stand Shiho, but she works quite well in the grand scheme of things. And I chuckled when I was writing this, so I hope you chuckled too. (:**


	6. Suspension

It was dark in Konoha. The lights were out, the shops were closed and its inhabitants were well asleep. The village seemed suspended in time. Frozen.

The only sign of movement were dark figures running atop the roofs.

Sakura chased after the two dark figures in front of her, unable to make out who they were. There was no sound. She could hear nothing but the wind, her footsteps didn't even seem to make contact with the roof. It was as if she was flying.

She hopped from rooftop to rooftop after the figures, but the closer she got the farther away they seemed.

Opening her mouth she called for them, but made no sound.

The silence was deafening.

Under the moon the figures suddenly came to light. Their ambiguous features soon shaped Naruto and Sasuke.

Sakura gasped. Her eyes widened as she kept running toward them.

The roof suddenly enveloped her, gripping onto her limbs and forcing her to freeze and watch the horrific scene.

Sasuke struck down Naruto who crashed into an adjacent rooftop.

Slowly Naruto rose, gasping for breath. Clouds shrouded the moonlight, silhouetting the two.

She watched as Sasuke pulled out a sword and stabbed Naruto through the chest. Blood splattered across Sakura's face and turned the sky red.

"NARUTO!" Her scream echoed through the village, quickly becoming cacophonous. The sudden sound was disorienting and the figures became fuzzy.

Naruto convulsed as the sword was pulled out of his abdomen. He fell the ground, dead. Sasuke turned to Sakura, a deadly smile plastered on his face he raised up the bloodied sword and rammed into Sakura.

Everything went red.

"Gah!" Sakura gasped as she opened her eyes. Blinking to adjust to the darkness, she looked around.

_Just a dream….it was….just a dream? Naruto?!_

Gasping for breath Sakura turned toward the bed adjacent to her and saw Naruto, hooked up to an IV and still unconscious in his hospital bed.

The room they were in was dark. The door was closed and the nurses outside were filling out charts.

_What time is it…? _She looked around for the clock. Unable to make out the time, but she was sure it was well after midnight.

She shrugged off the blankets and planted her feet on the floor. Looking up at Naruto in the bed a few feet from hers struggling to breathe.

"I keep hoping," she whispered, careful to not draw the attention of the nurses who surely wanted her back in bed, "Wishing…that I'll wake up and you won't be here. That _we_ won't be here. That you'll be out someplace. Awake and alive and your normal stupid self."

She took a few steps closer. "I keep dreaming…I keep seeing you. Naruto, what do these nightmares mean? Why do you always have to die…?"

Another few steps, "I'm scared, Naruto…." Her eyes teared up.

Sakura stood above the blonde and took hold of his hand. "Please wake up. Naruto. Just wake up. Please." She dipped her head and closed her eyes.

"Sakura-chan….I'm sorry." Naruto whispered. Standing in front of the floating image. His flame behind him was nearly out. It burned weakly.

Suddenly Naruto's breaths became heavy and labored. Gasping for air he turned to the sleeping fox demon, "Ku-Kurama….he-help m-" His voice gave out and he fell to the ground.

"Kit?" The fox was jostled awake by the thud and moved closer to Naruto.

Naruto fought for each breath, grasping at his bandaged side.

_This is it? This is how I go? NO! No, Sakura-chan deserves better._

Naruto closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He ignored the immense pain in his side and the pressure on his chest. Thinking only of Sakura, he focused on waking up.

Sakura could hear her teammate gasping for breath. She looked up at his strained expression and got up to find help. But Naruto squeezed her hand and refused to let go.

"What? Naruto! Are you waking up? Can you hear me?" She leaned in closer.

An evil chuckle reached her ears, as she looked up wide eyed at the figure standing in the open window.

"Do you really think he'll survive this?"

"Sasuke-kun…stay away from him," Sakura threatened. She tried standing up but was weighted down by Naruto's firm grip.

"So feisty," Sasuke laughed, his piercing eyes shone in the moonlight.

"You left us," Sakura glared, "You left _me_. Why are you back?"

"Can't a fellow member just visit his team once in a blue moon?" Sasuke glared at Naruto who had begun seizing.

"You stopped being our teammate well before you left Team Kakashi."

"Now that's not very nice, now is it?"

_Open your eyes_

"Help! Someone!"

_Open your eyes._

"Kit? The poison must be getting deeper!"

_Open your eyes._

"He was dead the moment he followed me out of the village."

_Open your..._

The green wound seeped through the bandage and spilled onto the floor.

_…__eyes…._

"You'll never save him. Best say your goodbyes now."

Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as the nurse came in.

"What is it?"

"Sa—Sasuke-kun?"

"Why are you out of bed?"

"You'll never win! You hear me! Never!"

"Notify Hokage-sama!"

"Naruto! He's struggling for breath. His….his hand-"

"His wound is worse."

"Sa...kura...ch-?"

"Naruto?"

"Kit?"

_Open your eyes._

**A/N**

**Now let's get these other piggies wiggling.**


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